Tri-C to host training program for new home inspectors

Anybody who has purchased a home knows there is always a side helping of anxiety. Would-be homebuyers spend weeks and months wondering if their six-figure investment is going to be a wise one.

To help ease some of those concerns, the majority of homebuyers hire home inspectors before finalizing the purchase. The home inspector acts as an independent evaluator of the house’s physical state, examining the structure, foundation, electrical wiring, HVAC system and plumbing, among other areas.

A well-trained inspector can provide the homebuyer with a detailed report on the state of the house, which allows the buyer to negotiate from a position of increased strength with the seller regarding repairs to be made and costs to be covered before the final papers are signed.

In short, home inspectors deliver peace of mind.

However, in recent years, that peace of mind has been delivered by a shrinking pool of home inspectors. The home inspection industry was one of many industries in the real estate food chain belted by the housing crash and recession of 2008 to 2010. With foreclosures skyrocketing and home sales plummeting, many inspectors left the field due to lack of work.

But that has all changed. Beginning in 2014, the industry began to experience a large-scale recovery as the housing market improved, and today there is a pronounced need for new inspectors to enter the field.

“The ATI partnership is a perfect fit with our plans to offer more real estate related courses such as the Northeast Ohio Apartment Association apartment manager certificate program we already have in place,” said Robert Peterson, Corporate College president and CEO.

Scott Newcomer, the owner, president and CEO of ATI, said the course is centered on the basics that anyone would need to become a home inspector.

“It’s a course that focuses on the nuts and bolts of home inspection,” Newcomer said. “We teach students what they need to know in order to evaluate structures, foundations and the mechanics within a house. The best part is, we take the class out in the field to show them different types of houses and how things can differ from structure to structure.”

The course will also teach students how to tell the difference between safe and unsafe structural features – even when a feature is built to code.

“Often, we’ll find balusters on decks and balconies that might have been built to code, but still contain spaces that are large enough for a small child to fit through,” Newcomer says. “To be clear, we don’t train for code inspection – that’s an entirely different type of inspection – but we do teach our students how to identify common-sense safety concerns, such as unsafe electrical wiring and features that might present a falling hazard for children.”

The course also covers the business end of becoming a home inspector. Most inspectors are self-employed, and many perform home inspections as a side business.

“It obviously doesn’t do a lot of good to know how to perform home inspections if you don’t know how to go out and get business,” Newcomer said. “It’s important to cover that as well, and we spend an entire day on that.”

Newcomer calls it “a great part-time job” for those looking for flexible schedules and those looking to earn a secondary income.

“The money you earn is dependent on many different factors, but consider $400 per inspection a conservative estimate, and that you probably spend four hours per inspection when you total the time driving to and from the site, the on-site work and preparing the report,” Newcomer said. “If you can perform 100 inspections in a year, that’s $40,000 in gross income. It’s a great part-time job if you’re well-trained and can find the work. And that’s what we’re aiming to teach in the course.”